kClare McKellaston is a versatile Chicago-based Costume artist.​ She has run wardrobe at Steppenwolf, draped and built costumes for Northlight, and has served as a Stylist for The Second City Mainstage. She has managed both professional and academic costume shops and has overseen the organization of several large costume stocks; most notably, Navy Pier Entertainment's twenty-five-year-old costume storage. For two years, she designed and created garments out of outdoor textiles for the acclaimed International Casual Furnishings Association's Gala. 

 

kClare is also a dedicated educator. Currently, she is Adjunct Faculty and the Costume Shop Manager for Columbia College Chicago. She was previously an Adjunct Faculty member and the Costume Shop Manager at Dominican University, where she designed Waiting for Godot, Songs for A New World, and The Addams Family Musical. She has mentored and guided student designers, as well as serving as a member of portfolio review panels for senior students in the Fashion and Theatre Department. 

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In November 2019, kClare joined the team of artists and creators at Lookingglass Theatre Company as their Costume Shop Manager. After one production, this job was cut short by the Covid-19 Pandemic. This provided a pivot--in 2021, she joined the first season filming of The Shining Girls, starring Elisabeth Moss, Jamie Bell, Wagner Moura, and Phillipa Soo, and at the same time became a proud member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 769. With the Union, she has worked as a Set Costumer and Background Costumer, Stylist, and Backstage Dresser for a number of productions--The Lion King, The Prom, the Dancing with the Stars Tour, Justified: City Primeval, and We Grown Now, to name a few (IMDb).